After marriage...

My recall of my early twenties is that people are letting loose and having fun but also trying to find that special someone to settle down with. Once you find that person however, and you are locked in til death do you part and all that, there don't seem to be any guidelines as to how to commute that energy into something else, besides having babies immediately or becoming a scrapbooking fanatic.

Despite having a ridiculously shy childhood, I have to admit to myself sometimes that I am still a Leo and still tend to seek out that (mostly male) attention even after not one but two fantastic weddings. I hope that doesn't say anything about our marriage or our relationship, but lately when I go out with girlfriends or friends on the prowl I hang back, not wanting to take attention away from them but still wanting to interact, to maybe flirt a little, and to connect. I even find myself digging that left hand with the sparkly giveaway into my pocket while dancing, or wrap my other hand around it as I'm holding my drink...like I don't think anyone will talk to me once they realize I'm off the market.

That particular phenomenon was illustrated in one of my old favorite TV shows, Scrubs. One of the main characters J.D., notices this really beautiful blonde nurse at work, and asks his friend when she started working at their hospital. His friend explains that because she was wearing a wedding ring she had been invisible to him up til now. Of course its an exaggeration but that scene has stuck with me and continues to resonate in my psyche when I'm out and about without my partner.

Something akin to that incident happened tonight as I was waiting for my gal pals to get ready to leave the concert/bar, I was sitting alone at a table by the door and there two guys standing nearby who almost came over to...whatever...but then must have seen the ring...and then decided to leave off. Not that they were all that interesting or good to look at, but it still felt strange to be passed over.

Ah well, I know I will figure it out eventually, but I have to admit that post-marriage nights on the town with girlfriends are infinitely more tricky than for the single girlfriend!